The prior art for animal feeding structures is extensive, but advances in the state of the art continue to be developed to meet the needs of the modern farm producer. Illustrative of the prior art are the following patents: Fechner U.S. Pat. No. 1,118,850 for a "Feed Trough" issued Nov. 24, 1914; Stockton U.S. Pat. No. 1,356,233 for an "Adjustable Feeding and Watering Trough" issued Oct. 19, 1920; Biehl U.S. Pat. No. 3,267,904 for an "Animal Excluding Trough Means" issued Aug. 23, 1966; and, Beihl U.S. Pat. No. 3,359,947 for "Feeding Devices for Animals, More Especially Pigs" issued Dec. 26, 1967.
Much of the recent development, however, has centered around improved mechanization of devices for feeding farm animals efficiently, safely and with a minimum of manual labor being required. Such mechanization has solved significant problems faced by the producers of farm animals, yet the continually changing nature of the methods for raising market animals require new apparatii to carry out the methods in the most efficient manner at the least cost.
Mechanization is expensive and the maintenance of mechanized devices increases a producer's overall operational costs. Oftentimes mechanized devices for feeding animals are not advisable for reasons other than the cost, such as sanitation and safety problems. This is particularly true in the feeding of relatively young farm animals, such as baby piglets. What is required of a feeding unit for baby piglets is that it be easily adjusted as the piglets grow in size. The unit desirably is durable, easily manufactured and of a design which allows several animals access to the feed without any one animal monopolizing the entire unit.
The present invention provides a unique feeding unit which is particularly well-suited to the needs of those farm operators raising pigs from birth. The unit may be economically manufactured from readily available commercial components and assembled with a minimum of skill and labor being required. The design of the unit allows it to be installed and maintained with a mimimum of effort. Also, as the animals grow in size the angle, at which feed contained in the unit is made available to the animals, may be adjusted with a minimum of effort and without requiring any replacement or substitution of one unit for another. Furthermore, no one animal is able to monopolize any one unit because of the construction and arrangement of the access openings to the feed contained therein. The access openings also prevent the animals from rooting the feed out of the unit and from inserting their feet into the feed thus minimizing the spreading of disease.